Jimmy Kimmel apologized on Friday after a monologue joke he made about Vice President Mike Pence was proven inaccurate. In the gag, Kimmel alleged that Pence was carrying empty boxes of personal protective equipment for the sake of a photo opportunity. The boxes, however, were not empty.
“It would appear that [Pence] was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt,” a less than contrite Kimmel wrote on Twitter. “The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth.”
The backhanded expression of regret came after a clip of Kimmel’s Thursday night broadcast went viral with the help of pollster Matt McDermott, whose original tweet about segment has generated more than 4 million views thus far. During his monologue, Kimmel showed C-SPAN footage of Pence pushing a platform truck of boxes filled with personal protective equipment into a Virginia health care facility. “What a hero,” the late-night host cracked, before noting that Pence was, perhaps unknowingly, wearing a microphone during the event. Kimmel then played a short clip of Pence and another official discussing the contents of the truck.
“Those are empty, sir,” said the unidentified man of the truck’s boxes. “We’re good to go.”
“Well, can I carry the empty ones?” Pence joked in response. “Just for the camera?”
Responding to the footage, Kimmel said, “Mike Pence pretending to carry empty PPEs into a hospital is the perfect metaphor for who he is and what he’s doing. A big box of nothing delivering another box of nothing.”
But as pointed out by a BuzzFeed News reporter, the actual clip extended beyond Kimmel’s edit and showed Pence closing the truck doors, leaving the empty boxes behind.